Walking with sharks: Day 2.




The view from Cape Lesueur during todays walk

This is the story of the semi-grey nomad's attempt to circumnavigate the Peron Peninsular, hiking mainly on the beach from Denham to Monkey Mia. 


Day two: From Big Lagoon to Cattle Well. South to North.


“If yer liked your first day, today is even more spectacular” said my expert guide in his broad Australian lingo. We had a long conversation bent over aerial maps relevant to today's hike. Navigating needed to be discussed in detail due to some tricky points traversing around the keyholes of the tidal flats and finding a way through to Cape Lesueur.






The map from Francois Peron National Park

I was dropped on a high point overlooking Big Lagoon and had some work to do to get waterside. After rounding the first of the three large tidal lakes, I came across some old bones that belonged to a dead horse. A kind of eerie discovery from an expired pastoral lease.





Horse bones in the sand

Because of the persistent strong southerly wind, navigation became easy. Wind blowing in the left ear for East and wind in the right lug hole for West. On the back of the noggin is the preferred way today, South. There is no one out here in this arid land and that makes asking for directions impossible. In fact I could be doing cartwheels and backflips naked and no one would know (sorry, no photos included). I must admit I enjoy the solitude which at the same time spurs me on to get back to civilization.




Vast empty spaces around the keyholes

There was a lot of temptation to walk straight across the tidal flats but I was told that the ground could get muddy and uncomfortable to walk on. In my mind I did not want to start a new trail through a World Heritage area or trample over something significant unbeknown to me. I tried sticking to the edge of the flats on a faint car track even though it meant more kilometres.




A Cowtail ray cruising past

Almost around the third key hole a track veers off to the right, up the hill and into the scrub. On top, a couple of hundred metres up, is the last spectacular view you get from Big Lagoon and it is the point where I joined a vermin proof fence for almost 4km to cape Lesueur. It was slow going through the sand but the wild life kept me buoyed. A Bungarra tried to run away from me and kept banging its head to the left into the vermin fence about twenty times in a panic. I stopt walking in its direction to give it some space, even talked to it nicely and then with a presumed headache, the large goanna finally saw the error of its way and disappeared in the bush on the right. I heard bleating nearby from some goats but could not spot them and saw black and white fairy wrens that were too illusive for my camera skills.




One last look at Big Lagoon and a first look at the vermin proof fence

At Cape Lesueur I strolled down the dune taking many photos of the scenery. In fact, I found it hard to put my camera down for the next 10km to Broadhurst. Again, I saw many Nervous Sharks but the cliffs were the highlight of today;s hike. The colours varied from the white beach sand to a yellow clay shade with vivid red on top. In some spots, where rain had fallen down cracks and crevasses of the cliff face, all those colours were mixed up to create what's known as blow outs.






The bluff with an ancient vibe and a little camera trick

A sense of awe came over me at the sight of these rugged cliffs. Walking here felt special as if there was more going on than meets the eye. I would not be surprised if there was any Indigenous significance to these cliffs?





A turtle coming up for a breath and checking me out.

Today;s hike was marred by the underestimation of distance or overestimating of my speed. What does that mean? It was a bloody long way to walk. My lift had been waiting a while at Cattle Well. I finally spotted him perched high above me on top of that cliff. He had been watching me through his binoculars for ages and said in his best Aussie “Looked like you were strugglen.” After calling me “a smelly” which is the local nick name for hikers, we had lunch together and I was made a double spooned instant coffee which tasted “grand” after five hours of hiking.






Checking out the "smelly" from above



Grey bits

Please note, you can not cross Big Lagoon inlet due to strong currents, possible stonefish and sulphur smelling mud. Walking around Big Lagoon is a truly beautiful walk. Don't miss it!

To do a day trip to the above mentioned cliffs you could park your car at Cattle Well, walk four kilometers North and pass a low set of dunes called Broadhurst. This area is very beautiful. There is no public access by car between Cattle Well and Big Lagoon.


Please note, that this hike is through very wild, uninhabited country. In my opinion it is not advisable to attempt this hike without a support team or proper communication devices like a satellite phone or  EPIRB. Hiking experience is a must.




Cormorants taking flight over Shark Bay

Let the Department of Parks and Wildlife  know where you are going to be and when you plan to return. Phone (08) 9948 2226 or click on the following links www.sharkbay.org, www.dpaw.wa.gov.au for more information.

The best time to walk around the Peron Peninsular is at low tide. You can check the tide at www.seabreeze.com.au

 Emus out for their afternoon dip in the water at Broadhurst

Walking with sharks: Day 1

 



 

 

I would love to explore planet Mars. What an exciting frontier and new landscape this would prove. Imagine walking in a weird gravitational floating movement. You could see rocks and craters no one has seen before. Would there be water or flowers or alien like animals. Unfortunately Jetstar has no scheduled flights to Mars and it may take a fair chunk out of your life to get there. Maybe it is better to come down to Earth.

On our planet most frontiers have been inundated with so-called civilization, most oceans have been navigated, land has been discovered and mountains have been scaled. To be ground breaking on this planet may take some lateral thinking and something off the wall.

How about walking around the Peron Peninsular? Lets say I walk from Denham to Monkey Mia but round Cape Peron for good measure.





A handy map of Francois Peron National Park

For two weeks I have discussed the idea of this hike with some of the prominent, knowledgeable people of Denham. The news is good. My local source has told me that there is no memory of such a hike ever been attempted. I am immediately warned that there isn't any car access in many of the parts of the national park. I will be on my own out there, must carry my own water and phone reception will be scarce. Right!!! This is the hard man Bear Grills hike I need to do .........

"and fast"

This is the story of a semi-grey nomad's attempt to circumnavigate the Peron Peninsular, hiking mainly on the beaches from Denham to Monkey Mia. 


Day One: Big Lagoon to Little Lagoon. 




A bearded dragon spotted on the way

"Yer got to walk to that third dune on the left." I was told with a pair of binoculars pressed to my face. Precious information from someone who has walked these parts on many occasions. "Middle bluff is hard to get around as there is thick mud and lotsa mangroves" said my source of information in ocker 'Strayan'. After a warm "goodluck" I set off for Little Lagoon on a ridge overlooking its bigger brother Big Lagoon.





"See that third dune on the left?" 

The first couple of km's I spend finding my way through shoulder high bush on kangaroo trails. At times I had to go back and find another trail to go towards that third dune. Sometimes there was no way forward other than to push through some of these low scrubs. Branches were cracking, snapping underfoot and brushing past my legs. As I am a novice hiker in this area I did not recognise the scrubs that had sharp thorns. The long trousers I was wearing soon were punctured several times scratching my legs till they bled.

An untouched round birrida

 

 

 

A small birrida or clay pan appeared at the foot of a hill and gave my legs some respite from the assault on my legs as birridas are flat and only low scrub grows on them.





A flower growing on a birrida

After two arduous kilometres I arrived at the tidal inlet where walking became easy on hard flat sand. Rather than walking way-around a large lake I thought it was smart to cross the tidal stream that flowed into it. I leapt up high, far and with camera in hand and landed beautifully at the other end. My foot stomped into the other shore as it should, however, the supposedly hard expected sand wasn't there. A smelly, grey, muddy mess squirted up with force and covered most of my legs, outstretched arm and camera. I spent the next half hour cleaning up my camera with the inside of my shirt, the only part not covered in sulphur smelling goo. Literally a semi-grey nomad I continued to battle more bush and dragged myself over some dunes to finally hit the beach.

 


The point of entry to the beach

The beach was like a walk in the park. That lovely solid summer breeze of Shark Bay was blowing freely into my face. It was low tide which left me with a wide strip of hard sand to get into cruise mode walking style. The shoes came off and I walked some time through the cool, refreshing, ankle deep water. Suddenly I saw something move out of the corner of my eye. Only metres away from me.........a shark??!! Wait a minute - there is another one - and another. When life returned back to my extremities and my mouth had closed again, I quickly stepped back on to dry land and gave my camera a fair work out.



A shark only a couple of metres away

While I continued walking some of the sharks stayed next to me.

I am walking with sharks. Priceless!!!

These sharks, I was later informed, were nervous sharks. They were a maximum of a metre and a half long and shot away as soon as I came anywhere near them. Because I have lots of time when hiking I attempted to count the amount of sharks I spotted that afternoon but gave up after one hundred.



All these black spots are sharks

After a couple of hours walking over tremendous beaches, the tide had reached its lowest point. In the distance I could see the golden sand dunes of Dirk Hartog Island. An Emu was strolling, pecking at bush tucker along the beach coming towards me. When eventually the bird spotted me it became panic stricken and in a flap, sprinted past me on the empty mudflat bringing some much needed comic relief from a hard day at the office.






Flight of the flightless

All animals are nervous today.

 

I turned left off the beach and followed the tidal river to and around Little Lagoon. Another little gem in this harsh land. Julie was waiting at the Eastern side of Little Lagoon and in the car to take this weary hiker home. As I sat down she immediately pulled up her nose when she smelled the semi-grey mud covering my clothes. Eaah. You smell!!

Just another day's work for a nomad.

 

 

Grey Bits


Little Lagoon is a great picnic spot and great for walking short distances. Crossing the tidal river here is not recommended due to stonefish lurking in the shallows. 

 

Please note, that this hike around the peninsular is through very wild, uninhabited country. In my opinion it is not advisable to attempt this hike without a support team or proper communication devices like a satellite phone or  EPIRB. Hiking experience is a must.




TDugong bones I stood on accidently

The opening photo is of Big Lagoon and Middle Bluff.

Let the Department of Parks and Wildlife  know where you are going to be and when you plan to return. Phone (08) 9948 2226 or click on the following links www.sharkbay.org, www.dpaw.wa.gov.au for more information of the area.

The best time to walk around the Peron Peninsular is at low tide. You can check the tide at www.seabreeze.com.au

 

 



 

 

 

Living in Francois Peron National Park

Sneaking up on a wedge tail eagle at Point Peron

For years I have been a somewhat frustrated holiday-maker. In the short time one can travel in other countries on working holidays, it has been difficult to emerge fully in to the local culture and get to know the people that live there. Travelling became a procession of visits to the major tourist destinations ticking them off the list one by one. Those lists were acquired from a brochure or a top ten web-site every man and his dog has in his possession and passes by the real world with the real people in them.



Herald Bight - one of the camp sights visited during an excursion into the park

Being able to spend the time here in Shark Bay is a luxury not many people get to experience. We have met a lot of locals and getting to know them was easy. We are now on first name terms with 30% of the town, know the greengrocer by name and have been stopped in the main street of Denham by locals to have a chat. This is the ultimate country inclusive tradition I believe.



A camouflaged bearded dragon

As volunteers for DPaW (Department of Parks and Wildlife) both Julie and I have had the pleasure to travel into the national park with some of the DPaW staff. These guys have a wealth of experience in the job that they know well. Every time we are out in the park something unexpected happens. There will be a lizard sitting on a branch or a sea eagle flying overhead. We have seen a dugong just five metres off the beach and helped a sea snake swim back out to sea. There is a wild life avalanche in Francois Peron National Park - all shown to us with expert commentary ocker Ozzy Attenborough style.

 

 

A white breasted sea eagle flying overhead

Some of the places where we've had “smoko” - even though none of us  smoke - are just simply breath-taking. For morning tea we stopped at Sheila’s Bluff. A stunning red semi-circled bay North of Bottle bay. The story goes that two local young men were collecting firewood on top of the cliff (in the old days one could still light camp fires in this area). They threw the sticks they had collected over the edge of the cliff so they didn't have to carry them down. Sheila the dog wrongly jumped after a stick causing her to fly towards the treacherous terrain below. As you can see in the photo it is quite a drop. Sheila dodged several big boulders on the way down, tumbled and rolled a couple of times and ended up laying completely winded on the beach. After the initial shock of seeing their dog disappear over the cliff edge and after making sure the dog was ok they cracked up laughing and named the rock Sheila’s Bluff. Apparently Sheila spent the rest of the day quietly under the ute.  

Sheila's Bluff

At South Gregories we stopped for lunch at a goat cave carved out at the high tide mark. Inside there are several stages of geological evolution going on if you are interested or you can just enjoy the turquoise sea water lapping at the little white beach in front of you while eating your sandwich.




The snorkelling is great at Gregories reef. 

Even cleaning the toilet is exciting in these parts. We were told about a redback spider trapping big bugs, lizards and even small snakes in its web that is amazingly strong and sticky.

Keep an eye out for these redbacks. We have "removed" several from the toilets at Gregories and Bottle Bay campsites. One such beautiful insect had made its home on the handle of the toilet brush. According to Wikipedia, historically humans were bitten in their genetalia as redbacks were hiding in the outdoor dunny. It must have been like dangling a carrot in front of those little spidy's fangs. These days indoor plumbing and better facilities has solved that problem. Makes you look twice right?




This friendly redback spider lives in our toilet at the homestead.

If you are bitten, symptoms usually include nausea, vomiting, chest or abdominal pain, agitation, generalised sweating and high blood pressure. For first aid treatment of redback spider bites Wikipedia recommends applying ice and taking Panadol against the pain. Keeping still helps prevent the poison from spreading through your body. If pain persists a hospital assessment may be needed. If I was bitten I would be banging the door of the hospital down immediately. Never mind the Panadol.

Another amazing fact I found about redbacks is that during a horrific sexual cannibalistic ritual, the beautiful red striped female eats the all black male spider genitals first. One last amorous act by the male before turning into crunchy spider food. It must be said that redbacks do not engage in long term relationships




The colours of Skipjack Point.

 

A couple of times now we have been able to walk the 1500 metre trail between Cape Peron and Skipjack Point. A truly remarkable spot, with great sweeping views over the beach and ocean. There has to be one of the largest colony of cormorants (otherwise known as shags) queuing up along the beach we have ever seen. A huge wedge tail eagle was spotted by Julie on top of a low scrub. (see Julie's photo at the beginning of this blog).



The largest row of cormorants we have ever seen at Cape Peron.

From the boardwalk - a vantage point high above the sea at Skipjack Point - on a quiet wind-free day you can see many rays, dolphins, dugongs and sharks.  





A dugong coming up for air in Shark Bay.

We have had many chats with the rangers around the homestead, have been invited into peoples homes for cuppa's and loved the DPaW Christmas party. We would like to thank all DPaW staff for the time they have taken to show us around Francois Peron National Park and making us feel welcome.



Grey bits
 

Who is Francois Peron you may ask or you may not? Francois was a French scientist who came out to Terra Australis as Australia was known then on an ill-fated expedition on the ships the "Naturaliste" and the "Geographe" in 1800. The death toll reaching 40 due to scurvy, fever and dysentery on this voyage The two ships were separated for a long time and the expeditions into the peninsular were lost and late returning on three occasions. Francois Peron, whilst earning the wrath of his captain for getting lost, collected around 2500 zoological, for that time unknown species, and his enthusiasm and excitement about the peninsular wild life I share with him. Maybe he wasn't lost at all and just enjoyed the soft glowing low scrubby hills covered in flowers and strange animals. Unfortunately Francois contracted Tuberculosis and died when he was 35.

 

Francois Peron never had a chance to become
 a semi-grey nomad.

 

If you like to read more about Francois Peron go to: http://www.sharkbay.org.au/assets/documents/factsheets/francois-peron-v2.pdf



 You can read more about redback spiders at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redback_spider

A Perennial Tar Vine or Commicarpus Australis at Cape Peron

 

 

Secret Santa

Hello to all the readers or shall I say wonderful aunties, sons, brother, sisters, parents-in-law and all those beautiful friends.

The semi-grey Santa sat down in his camping chair in front of his caravan sled and thought to himself "what to give the good readers as Xmas gift from Shark Bay? First Santa thought he would send you all a cheque of a thousand dollars. This is to thank you for your unwavering support and believe in the semi-grey Santa. But the elf told Santa that there was a voluntary recession in Santa's fortunes and that it would be better to save a bit of bullion.

Perhaps a souvenir could work as a gift for Xmas thought the semi-grey. A fridge magnet with some sharks saying "G'day from Shark Bay" or a cuddly soft dolphin toy. The semi-wise Santa shook his head and thought it all appeared a little cheap, even tacky and not befitting the commitment you wonderful people made to click on the link and take the time to read about the silly frayed nomad.

A bottle of wine I hear you say? What good would that be if Santa wasn't there to share it with you.

Rather than money, a present or some booze, semi-Santa would like to give you a secret.... a very well kept secret from the Shark Bay area.... a secret not accessible to any old wonderer. This secret can only be seen by photographs taken from the area. Semi Santa just happened to be in the area and has taken these photos just for the semi-grey nomad reader.

So... from the semi-grey Santa and his beloved gorgeous elf we wish you a Merry semi-grey Christmas and happy viewing. Cheers!

 

Kilometres of stromatolites and hyper-saline water

 

Sea water left in holes when the sea retreats.

 

  

Some are blue

Some white



Some surrounded by crusted salt.



Some multi-coloured



Not a footstep on this shell beach.






Sometimes words are not necessary.

Grey bits

Thank you to Ranger Ross for taking us to this special place.

What did you say? You would rather have a thousand bucks?

Banana Boat

Banana Boat

Loading up the barge

We rocked up on time at 8:30am in the morning and found skipper Shane and his trainee deckhand Kieran working pretty hard at loading the barge at the Denham jetty. As part of our volunteering education we were extremely happy to go to Dirk Hartog Island on a barge run. I noticed immediately the precision and skill these guys had uploading big barrels of diesel and stood like a spare appendage at a wedding reception taking photos of it all. Ranger Chris pulled up with a trailer and started unloading some pallets on to the deck.  When we  took off it was a magic wind-free morning. Some cloud cover soon disappeared and the sun soon broke through to reveal a beautiful calm Shark Bay. The conversation was funny and full of banter as we cruised out of the harbour. Suddenly, the starboard engine started acting up. We could hear it straining and dropping out at times. When Kieran opened the engine hatch an alarming amount of grey smoke billowed up from below deck.  A large effort was made immediately by the crew and Chris to fix the problem. Again there was not much we could do.

Ranger Chris in conversation with Julie

Chris walked over to us and asked us in a concerned voice if we had brought bananas on board. He explained that throughout history sailors had been blaming bananas for bad luck on their ships. They found that bananas had all ripened at the same time and were useless to stow on a long voyage. I don’t know Chris well enough to gauge what his serious straight face looks like in comparison with his taking the 'Mick' straight face but the banana story sounded pretty bent in my ears. Guiltily we ate our bananas we had brought for lunch early in an attempt to prevent anything worse from occurring.
 

Meanwhile the boat had turned around to head back to Denham. After some repairs and assistance by phone from the mainland and the on-board crew the engine started settling down. We then turned around and headed back to Dirk Hartog. We were relieved to say the least.
 

Julie and I spotted several dolphins.  I managed to recognize the square head of the Loggerhead turtle who eyeballed me  from 10 meters away before, with amazing agility, disappeared straight down in the dark depths of the Bay, We were told that there were many whales in the bay at this moment in time and that we were likely to get close to some of them on the way back. 

 

Yep!! That's what it looked like

When we arrived at Dirk Hartog Island we had missed the high tide suitable to shift the gear to onto the beach. Another result of our banana crime committed and we had to moor the barge offshore and conquer the Island by dingy. I cannot help but think back to Dirk Hartog as he landed here 399 years ago. This crazy semi-grey Dutch nomad following him in his footsteps almost four hundred years later as we landed on a pristine white sandy beach with the most exquisite turquoise coloroured water. A massive sting ray was gliding past us in the shallow. “C’mon Dirk. What's not to like?” Three little mice shot away from the land cruiser that was left bogged on the beach waiting for our arrival. After deflating the tires Ranger Chris four wheel drove us up to the big shed on the hill. The whole shed was full of dusty camping gear in preparation for a maintenance crew to arrive next week. Ranger Chris rummaged around and came up with some instant coffee that tasted rather good to a self-confessed coffee snob under these circumstances. We sat down on the porch of the shed overlooking the magnificent bay and rugged rolling hills while more banana jokes were flying around. Waiting for the tide can take many hours we found out. Driving the ute on red sandy soil through low scrubs and amazing flowers along side Ranger Chris took us to Mystery Beach where Jules and I had the opportunity to go for a long walk. The beach was untouched by humans and deserted. Taking photos in this setting was pure joy. The sun started to set and the moon rose at the same time.

 

The barge cruising just off-shore of dirk Hartog Island

The skipper moved the barge closer to Mystery Beach but had to wait for the tide to rise by another six inches. Just after dark the crew managed to load the ship with empty diesel barrels and a trailer full of old irrigation pipes that were removed by volunteers on a previous voyage.

Loading the barge in the moonlight

The trip home was a bouncy affair. For four hours the barge danced onto the waves. We were all brave and chatted standing up for hours. When I mentioned to Jules I was feeling a little see-sick tickle in the back of the throat it was Julie that disappeared down the back of the boat for some dry heaving. She said the fumes and cold helped against that nauseating feeling that had taken hold of her. Darn bananas were about to haunt us again.


In the end we had the time of our lives and have put our names down to go again to beautiful Dirk Hartog Island.


Semi-grey nomad tips.

• Don’t bring  bananas onto a boat (EVER)!!!!!